Sgt. Jack Culhane of the Bayou Blue Volunteer Fire Department helps put out a blaze in a building that contained explosives early today.

photos by Sabree Hill/The Courier

Firefighters were able to remove the explosive material from the Titan Services building at 2124 Bayou Blue Road without incident, however, and no one was harmed in the blaze.

"The guys did one hell of a job," said Assistant Chief Van Matherne of the Bayou Blue Volunteer Fire Department. "It was really blowing and going."

The fire started around 2 a.m., but the cause has yet to be determined, Matherne said. The buildingís owners arrived and told officials where the explosives were, then firefighters cut a hole through a side door and pulled the large red containers outside into the open.

"The whole front end [of the building] was engulfed in flames," Matherne said. "The containers were 10 to 15 feet from where the fire was."

The blaze was contained to the front office area of the building, Matherne said. Though the containers were near the flames, they were not hot to the touch when firefighters pulled them out and not likely in danger of exploding, said Titan Services manager Randy Bergeron.

"I put my hands on them and I could have left my hands on them," Bergeron said. "They were far enough away from the fire."

Titan Services supplies earth-perforating equipment to offshore drilling companies, Bergeron said. One of the three containers marked "explosives" held detonators, one held blasting material that must be kept separate from the detonators, and the third was an empty extra container used for short-term storage, Bergeron said.

Connie Chauvin, who lives across the street from Titan, said she heard a loud sound outside her house that she first thought was a car wreck. She went outside when she saw the fire trucks passing, saw the smoke coming from the Titan Services building and hurried to her motherís house directly behind the burning building to get her mother out of harmís way.

Though other industrial buildings dot the side of La. 316 all around Chauvinís home, she said she has never been worried by the possibility of an accident.

"Iíve lived here 17 years, and this is the first thing," Chauvin said. "Itís kind of like the hurricanes -- you never know. Itís like living anywhere else. You have things that could happen."

<p class="bold allcaps">Explosives removed from burning building</p>
<p>BAYOU BLUE -- An industrial building containing oilfield explosives caught fire early today, causing officials to wake and alert some residents of the surrounding neighborhood.</p><p>Firefighters were able to remove the explosive material from the Titan Services building at 2124 Bayou Blue Road without incident, however, and no one was harmed in the blaze.</p><p>"The guys did one hell of a job," said Assistant Chief Van Matherne of the Bayou Blue Volunteer Fire Department. "It was really blowing and going."</p><p>The fire started around 2 a.m., but the cause has yet to be determined, Matherne said. The building’s owners arrived and told officials where the explosives were, then firefighters cut a hole through a side door and pulled the large red containers outside into the open.</p><p>"The whole front end [of the building] was engulfed in flames," Matherne said. "The containers were 10 to 15 feet from where the fire was."</p><p>The blaze was contained to the front office area of the building, Matherne said. Though the containers were near the flames, they were not hot to the touch when firefighters pulled them out and not likely in danger of exploding, said Titan Services manager Randy Bergeron.</p><p>"I put my hands on them and I could have left my hands on them," Bergeron said. "They were far enough away from the fire."</p><p>Titan Services supplies earth-perforating equipment to offshore drilling companies, Bergeron said. One of the three containers marked "explosives" held detonators, one held blasting material that must be kept separate from the detonators, and the third was an empty extra container used for short-term storage, Bergeron said.</p><p>Connie Chauvin, who lives across the street from Titan, said she heard a loud sound outside her house that she first thought was a car wreck. She went outside when she saw the fire trucks passing, saw the smoke coming from the Titan Services building and hurried to her mother’s house directly behind the burning building to get her mother out of harm’s way.</p><p>Though other industrial buildings dot the side of La. 316 all around Chauvin’s home, she said she has never been worried by the possibility of an accident.</p><p>"I’ve lived here 17 years, and this is the first thing," Chauvin said. "It’s kind of like the hurricanes -- you never know. It’s like living anywhere else. You have things that could happen."</p>